Media and crisis management is the most visible side of PR. But most of WHAM’s work involves sustained behind-the-scenes work, helping our clients communicate effectively with their customers, staff and other stakeholders. More…

31 January 2009

Big challenges for new minister

Few urbanites will have heard of the 10th-ranked
minister in the first John Key cabinet. But by the end of this government's
first term, David Carter should have a much higher public profile. If he
doesn't, he won't have done his job.

As minister of agriculture, forestry and biosecurity
he's waist-deep in the policy maelstrom where land use and the environment
intersect. Think climate change, dying lakes and polluted rivers.

Putting a price on carbon is the best tool we have for addressing climate change. It scares
the living daylights out of some industries and is a fantastic opportunity for
others. Because it will push up electricity and fuel prices, consumers don't
want to know about it.

In the case of water, the days of an unlimited clean
supply are long over in many areas. Better ways need to be found to allocate
and protect what's left. But as with greenhouses gases, doing nothing generates
criticism; doing something creates mayhem.

The big hip-pocket concerns — like the tanking
economy, falling house prices and growing unemployment — will obviously be the
hottest political topics in the next three years. But Kyoto policy, water
allocation and other resource management topics will not be far behind.

Carter's main focus on these issues — and the focus
of his advocacy in Cabinet — will be how climate change, RMA and water policies
impact on the farmers, forest owners and horticulturists who look to his
portfolio for leadership and support. But there lies the nub of his challenge —
he can only work within the constraints of what his Cabinet colleagues and the
wider, largely urban, public will accept.

He also has to contend at the Cabinet table with the
spirited advocacy of environment and climate change minister Nick Smith. How
well they work with each other and their individual clout with the Cabinet
inner circle will have a huge effect on the shape of environmental policy
development and the buy-in from resource-based industries and the general
public.

Carter and Smith are in many respects like chalk and
cheese. Carter likes to consult and weigh his options before backing a
position. His methodical, businesslike approach and eye for detail contrasts
greatly with Smith, who is something of a loner ... an enthusiast who can be
captivated by novel ideas.

Smith's passion for causes and mercurial,
terrier-like personality has got him into trouble at times — not the least in
the courts, defending gagging writs from an international chemical company and
the Exclusive Brethren, and for attacking the secretive processes of the Family
Court.

In contrast, Carter was slammed earlier this month by NZ
Farmers Weekly commentator Alan Emerson for being invisible in parliament.
An analysis of Carter's contributions in parliament in recent years show the
criticism is not totally fair — he's been active in many debates. His failing
has been his inability to attract media coverage.

Being a moderate and rational farmer from Canterbury
won't have appealed to generation X & Y Press Gallery journalists, who would far
prefer to feed off the utterances of a Winston Peters or a Rodney Hide. Short of exposing
government incompetence in a high profile portfolio or making a major personal
pratfall, Opposition MPs normally struggle to attract media attention.

Also, the man Carter was marking last term — Jim
Anderton — was an excellent ag & forestry minister, and too old and cunning
to be tripped up.

Now he's in office, these realities no longer hold
much water. Carter's in the front-line and his core constituents, particularly farmers,
need to see him get some runs on the board.

In his favour, many farmers — particularly in the
South Island — tend to see Carter as one of their own and there is much faith
and hope that he will deliver them policies they favour. In contrast, Smith is
viewed with deep suspicion for being too green.

Neither stereotype is very useful. All ministers are very mindful of the
concerns of blue-green voters in the big cities and this will temper any tendency to run agendas that could be perceived as anti-conservation.

The ministerial water-use forum that Carter
organised in the week before Christmas was clearly a signal by the new
government that it had heard farmer concerns.
But most of the resulting media coverage was criticism from the green
and outdoor recreation groups who weren't invited.

National's strategists won't want to trigger this sort of
response too often. The party can't afford for Jo Average to perceive that it
favours polluting or extractive industries over the concerns of ordinary New
Zealanders. Especially not at a time when
voters are becoming increasingly strident about polluted lakes and rivers. Not
when the revised ETS, when it emerges later this year, must include consumer
carbon charges if it is to have any credibility at all.

The biggest challenge for Carter will therefore be
to manage the expectations of his resource-user constituency, a task
complicated by the populist approach of Federated Farmers to resource
management issues. Instead of helping their members adapt to a low-carbon and
water-scarce world, the federation has persuaded many farmers to adopt a
defiant stance in the face of inevitable change.

Carter has enough on his plate without having to
tell his mates they're wrong.

What do you think?

Mark
I think there are going to be big challenges for our new Minister. He has not said much in the House since his inception & it will be interesting to see how he gets on with the terrier Nick Smith. The carbon issue is a hard one that won't go away, but I find it hard to see the Nats taking it seriously. But I will keep reading your blogs Trev

What do you think?Feedback about items in WHAM Hits is welcome, within the contraints of civilised dialogue. Limit: 300 words.